These six characters together make up the Six Character Great Bright Mantra; each one individually is able to emit brilliant light.

Mantras and their meanings are studied in the Secret School, one of the five schools into which the principles of the Buddha's teachings are divided:

1) the Dhyana School;2) the Teaching School;3) the Vinaya School;4) the Secret School;5) the Pure Land School.

The Dhyana School teaches constant investigation of dhyana meditation; the Teaching School, lecturing sutras and speaking dharma; the Vinaya School, exclusive maintenance of moral prohibitions: "awesome, majestic, and pure in vinaya, great models for the three realms". Then there is the Secret School. Secret means "no mutual knowing". The Pure Land School teaches the exclusive mindfulness and recitation of "Na Mo A Mi T'o Fo", the "Vast Six Character Name".

Some people say the Dhyana School is highest of the five. Others claim that the Teaching School, or the Vinaya School, is highest. Cultivators of the Secret School say, "The Secret School is supreme". Practicers of the Pure Land Dharma-door say, "The Pure Land Dharma-door is first, it is superior". Actually, Dharma is equal; there is no high or low. "Highest" is everyone's own personal opinion; whatever school you like you claim it to be the highest.

Now I will explain the Secret School. What most people understand to be the Secret School is actually Lamaism. In fact, the Secret School is not secret. Within the "explicit" teaching, the manifest and secret perfectly penetrate. The "explicit" teaching also includes the Secret School; for example, the Great Compassion Mantra, and the Six-Character Great Bright Mantra both belong to the Secret School. The Shurangama Mantra is even more secret. "Secret" is just "no mutual knowing".

Ignorant people say that secret things are the best. Why? Because they are secret, and not publicly transmitted. So people who don't understand the Buddhadharma speak of the supernatural and mysterious saying, "Oh! I can't tell this to you! It's from the Secret School, and it can't be spoken for you to hear!" If they can't speak of it to others, why mention it? Why do they say they can't talk about it? If it's really the Secret School, and it's best not to speak of it, why do they say, "I can't tell you"? Their "not talking" is just talking about it. Is this "refusal to speak of it" speaking of it or not? Yes, it's speaking of it. Why do they talk this way? Because they don't understand the Buddhadharma, and are completely unaware of what the Secret School is.

Now I will tell you about the Secret School. Mantras are not secret. The Secret School is the magical response which comes from your recitation of mantras; I can't know your response. I recite mantras and have my magical response, and you do not know of it. This is "no mutual knowing". The ability and power are unknown, and therefore are called the Secret School. It's not mantras, but the power of mantras that is the Secret School. This is the meaning of the Secret School.

If mantras are really secret, they should not be transmitted to other people; for if you transmit a mantra to someone else, it is no longer secret. It is the same as the Sixth Patriarch's answer to Hui Ming's question:

"He (Hui Ming) further asked, 'Apart from the above secret speech and secret meaning, is there yet another secret meaning?'

Hui Neng said, 'What has been spoken to you is not secret. If you reverse the illumination, the secret is on your side."'

Speak it and it is not secret. Take a look; he said it very clearly. Once spoken, it is no longer secret. The "secret" is that which is not transmitted. If it can be transmitted, it is not "secret". The "secret" can not be transmitted; it is on your side; it is where you are.

I don't believe that Secret School Dharma Masters understand how validly explain "secret" dharma. They simply think that mantras are secret, but all mantras can orally transmitted to people; there are no mantras, which cannot be spoken. If they couldn't be spoken, there would be no way to transmit them. Isn't that right? We are now speaking true principle. If it is transmittable, it is not secret--it is not the Secret School.

Because the "secret" is un- transmittable, I say that the "secret" is the mantra's power, and there is no way anyone can tell you about it. No one can say, "This mantra has this power, and when you recite it such and such will happen." There is no way to tell you. It is like a man drinking water; he himself knows whether it is hot or cold. The "secret" is that which you know and others don't. The strength is secret, the response is secret, the function is secret; it is not the mantra that is secret. Now does everyone understand?

Those who don't understand the Buddhadharma must have thought that I have spoken incorrectly about this dharma. Incorrect or not, I will still speak this way. Say I am right...there is no way for you to say that. Since you fundamentally do not understand this dharma, how can you say that I understand. I don't understand; I'm even more muddled. Previously, however, I had a teacher who taught me with great clarity so that I understood, and this confused person changed into one who could speak and explain the Six-Character Great Bright Mantra according to the Secret School.

The Secret School is separated into five divisions, East, West, North, South, and Center. In the East is the Vajra Division, which protects and maintains the proper Dharma. In the South is the Jeweled Birth Division; the West, the Lotus Flower Division; the North, the Karma Division; and in the Center the Buddha Division. If there were more time...the Shurangama Mantra explains these five divisions in great detail.

If there is one person who can recite the Shurangama Mantra, the demon kings cannot manifest in the world. If no one is able to recite it, demons can enter all of the three thousand great thousand world systems. Why? Because no one watches over them; no one works in the five divisions, so the demons are able to enter the world. If one person, however, can recite the Shurangama Mantra, demons do not dare enter. It is just because of this that we hope more people will learn to recite the Shurangama Mantra. During the first summer session, the first test was to recite the Shurangama Mantra from memory, and in fact two people were able to do so. Later, many more were able to recite the mantra. It was just for this reason. Now I will talk about the Six Character Great Bright Mantra.

The first character is "nan (Sanskrit: om)". When you recite "nan" once, all ghosts and spirits must place their palms together. Why do they put their palms together? To maintain the rules and regulations. Conforming to the regulations, they follow the correct way. Recite this one character and all ghosts and spirits do not dare rebel and create confusion; they do not dare disobey orders. This is called leading sound-meaning, i.e. lead to the mantra to be mentioned below. This is the first sound in the mantra.

"Ma ni (Sanskrit: mani)" means "wisdom silence". Using wisdom one is able to understand all principles, and thus is able to be silently extinguished, without production. It is also defined as "separating from filth" which means leaving all dust and filth. It can be compared to the "precious as-you-will pearl" which is extremely pure, with no defilement. Whatever excellence you wish to bring forth, if you have the "precious as-you-will pearl" it can be done. It can also fulfill your wishes in accord with your thoughts. Every vow you make will be fulfilled. These are its benefits.

"Pa mi (Sanskrit: padme) actually should read "pa t'e mi". It means "light perfectly illuminating", and is also defined as "the opening of the lotus". It is analogous to the wonderful lotus flower, which can complete, perfect, and fulfill, without obstruction. It is the wonderful mind of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. This is "pa mi".

Next comes "hung ( Sanskrit: hum) which means "put forth". Anything at all can be born from this character "hung". It also means "to protect and support". Recite this character and all Dharma protectors and good spirits come to support and protect you. It also means "eradicating disasters". Recite this character and whatever difficulties there are will be eradicated. It also means "success"; whatever you cultivate can be accomplished.

Recite the Six-Character Great Bright Mantra once, and the immeasurable Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Vajra Dharma protectors constantly support and protect you. Therefore, when Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva finished saying this Six-Character Great Bright Mantra, there were seven million Buddhas who came to support, protect, and surround him. The strength and function of the Six-Character Great Bright Mantra are inconceivable, the intertwining of the response and way unimaginable; therefore it is called the Secret School. If one were to explain in detail, the meanings would be immeasurable and unlimited; they cannot be completely spoken. So tonight I will just make a simple explanation for everyone.

Now I will tell you a little of that which cannot be told of the Secret School's strength. Why do I say "of that which cannot be told"? Because my talking does not even contain one ten—thousandth part of it. What is it? If you are able to constantly recite and maintain the Six-Character Great Bright Mantra, there will be six paths of light changing the darkness of the six paths into brightness. It is necessary that you turn your mind to one when reciting this mantra to obtain this type of samadhi. Then, not only will the six paths put forth light, but all of the ten dharma realms will become the "great light bright treasury". So now we know that the Six-Character Great Bright Mantra has great strength. I hope that everyone will set aside time from his or her activities to recite the Six-Character Great Bright Mantra.

Does the Master's teaching benefit beings - yes. Is it true - yes. Does this teaching explain everything related to the Mani mantra - no. Do different gurus explain the same subject the same way all the time to differing groups - no.

It is very good to recite the mantra OM MANI PADME HUM, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast. The first, OM is composed of three letters, A, U, and M. These symbolize the practitioner’s impure body, speech, and mind; they also symbolize the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.

Can impure body, speech, and mind be transformed into pure body, speech, and mind, or are they entirely separate? All Buddhas are cases of beings who were like ourselves and then in dependence on the path became enlightened; Buddhism does not assert that there is anyone who from the beginning is free from faults and possesses all good qualities. The development of pure body, speech, and mind comes from gradually leaving the impure states and their being transformed into the pure.

How is this done? The path is indicated by the next four syllables. MANI, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method — the altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion , and love. Just as a jewel is capable of removing poverty, so the altruistic mind of enlightenment is capable of removing the poverty, or difficulties, of cyclic existence and of solitary peace. Similarly, just as a jewel fulfills the wishes of sentient beings, so the altruistic intention to become enlightened fulfills the wishes of sentient beings.

The two syllables, PADME, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom. Just as a lotus grows from mud but is not sullied by the faults of mud, so wisdom is capable of putting you in a situation of non-contradiction whereas there would be contradiction if you did not have wisdom. There is wisdom realizing impermanence, wisdom realizing that persons are empty of being self-sufficient or substantially existent, wisdom that realizes the emptiness of duality — that is to say, of difference of entity between subject and object — and wisdom that realizes the emptiness of inherent existence. Though there are many different types of wisdom, the main of all these is the wisdom realizing emptiness.

Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable HUM, which indicates indivisibility. According to the sutra system, this indivisibility of method and wisdom refers to wisdom affected by method and method affected by wisdom. In the mantra, or vajrayana vehicle, it refers to one consciousness in which there is the full form of both wisdom and method as one undifferentiable entity. In terms of the seed syllables of the Five Conqueror Buddhas, HUM is the seed syllable of Akshobhya — the immovable, the unfluctuating, that which cannot be disturbed by anything.

Thus the six syllables, OM MANI PADME HUM, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech and mind of a Buddha. It is said that you should not seek for Buddhahood outside of yourself; the substances for the achievement of Buddhahood are within. As Maitreya says in his Sublime Continuum of the Great Vehicle (Uttaratantra), all beings naturally have the Buddha nature in their own continuum. We have within us the seed of purity, the essence of a One Gone Thus (Tathagatagarbha), that is to be transformed and fully developed into Buddhahood.

..."Secret" is just "no mutual knowing".......Now I will tell you about the Secret School. Mantras are not secret. The Secret School is the magical response which comes from your recitation of mantras; I can't know your response. I recite mantras and have my magical response, and you do not know of it. This is "no mutual knowing". The ability and power are unknown, and therefore are called the Secret School. It's not mantras, but the power of mantras that is the Secret School. This is the meaning of the Secret School....

It was his perspective I think but in his own way he has put it beautifully.

Abandoning Dharma is, in the final analysis, disparaging the Hinayana because of the Mahayana; favoring the Hinayana on account of the Mahayana; playing off sutra against tantra; playing off the four classes of the tantras against each other; favoring one of the Tibetan schools—the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, or Nyingma—and disparaging the rest; and so on. In other words, we abandon Dharma any time we favor our own tenets and disparage the rest.

Will wrote:Does the Master's teaching benefit beings - yes. Is it true - yes. Does this teaching explain everything related to the Mani mantra - no. Do different gurus explain the same subject the same way all the time to differing groups - no.

Very true.

It is also the case that the syllables are not being translated literally and represent different things in different mantras.

Tantra is 'secret mantra' precisely because the meaning cannot be transmitted in this way. It's easy to become confused and so it is best to learn mantras from one's guru in order to perform them with the correct meaning and pronunciation in the context of the rest of that guru's teachings of Tantra.

Showing a printed transcript conveys nothing about pronunciation, so (as the teaching says mantras are meant to be spoken) it is worthless in that sense.

Even the first syllable, written as 'nan', to me conveys nothing remotely close to any pronunciation I know of the word.

I know OM, AUM, AUMN, AUMN() - where the silence is the fourth 'syllable'. I know of nothing like 'nan'.

I know HUM (prnounced as in 'humming' a song) and HUM pronounced as 'hoom'.

IMHO if the mantra started as Sanskrit there is nothing to be gained by pronouncing it in Tibetan, for example, except perhaps some confusion, unless that is the only language one's guru knows.

Without proper transmission of sound and meaning, teaching somebody a mantra may be of some benefit but it is a bit like giving them a car with no door key and no engine.

Pronunciation differs from region to region, Theres is a story im sure you remember Yeshe of the starving women whom was given stones to eat by her teacher and he said to her to recite the mantra of the goddess Tsundra I think so she could cook the stones, It was the wrong mantra but because she said it with sincere faith it worked anyway.

Abandoning Dharma is, in the final analysis, disparaging the Hinayana because of the Mahayana; favoring the Hinayana on account of the Mahayana; playing off sutra against tantra; playing off the four classes of the tantras against each other; favoring one of the Tibetan schools—the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, or Nyingma—and disparaging the rest; and so on. In other words, we abandon Dharma any time we favor our own tenets and disparage the rest.

In China Sanskrit words were often rendered phonetically. Thus "nan" is their way of saying "om". Similarly the Tibetans' "benzar" for "vajra". But as an old story puts it:

"A great siddha lived on an island; his wisdom, compassion and powers all came from recitation of the mantra OM AH HUM. His reputation spread to the farthest parts of the land and several advanced practitioners went to visit him. They had to sail for a half-mile or so, to get to the siddha's island. Upon arrival they asked about his practice and the siddha said it all revolved around use of OM PAH HUM. The sagely visitors tried to keep a straight face and soon left the island. Their boat sailed away and they chuckled over the silly siddha with his wrong, mangled pronunciation of the mantra, which could never produce any merit. His reputation was not deserved they decided. Suddenly the siddha called out from the shore that one of the party had forgotten their books. They began to turn the boat around and were shocked to see the siddha walking the hundred yards across the water holding the books. He arrived at the boat, returned the books, and walked back across the lake to the shore. The visitors were silent."

The moral of the tale is that the faith of the user is most important, not the spelling or pronunciation. Another poster can tell of the Buddha's tooth story, which makes the same point.

Yeshe wrote:Yes, I know those stories guys, but still consider it best to receive the accurate pronunciation from a guru.

Coorect pronunciation and strong faith may be no better in effect than mispronunciation and strong faith, but Buddhism is an oral tradition, so somebody has to maintain consistency.

What is always funny is when somebody gets on their high horse and complains about the bad 'pronounciation' of others!

I know, I know......................I'm a pedant! Or should that be 'peasant'!

I agree maintaining consistancy is very important as well. But fact of the matter is it is the mind that does the most important work when reciting the mantras !

Abandoning Dharma is, in the final analysis, disparaging the Hinayana because of the Mahayana; favoring the Hinayana on account of the Mahayana; playing off sutra against tantra; playing off the four classes of the tantras against each other; favoring one of the Tibetan schools—the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, or Nyingma—and disparaging the rest; and so on. In other words, we abandon Dharma any time we favor our own tenets and disparage the rest.

Only keep a try mind, only one mind: do it mind. When chanting, sitting or bowing, only do it. Practicing will not help if you are attached to your thinking, if your mind is moving. Taoist chanting, Confucian chanting, Christian chanting, Buddhist chanting: it doesn’t matter. Even chanting, “Coca Cola, Coca Cola, Coca Cola. . . ” can be just as good if you keep a clear mind. But, if you don’t keep a clear mind, even Buddha cannot help you. The most important thing is, only do it. When you only do something one hundred percent, then there is no subject, no object. There’s no inside or outside. Inside and outside are already one. That means you and the whole universe are one and never separate.

"There is no such thing as the real mind. Ridding yourself of delusion: that's the real mind."(Sheng-yen: Getting the Buddha Mind, p 73)

Do you know what I want to tell you all today [1995]? I want to tell you about the "Six-Syllable Great Bright Mantra" Recitation Session held at Gold Mountain Monastery in 1972. That session lasted for seven days and seven nights. There were over sixty participants, Americans as well as Chinese. They were all very vigorous, reciting day and night without ever stopping to rest. From morning to night, twenty-four hours a day, every day, they rotated shifts to recite this "Six-Syllable Great Bright Mantra" without resting, stopping, or cutting corners. Why did they do it? They were praying for world peace; they wanted to invisibly eradicate the calamities of the world. That was why this Dharma session was held. In 1974, it was predicted that there would be an earthquake in San Francisco. We recited the "Six-Syllable Great Bright Mantra" to prevent the quake from occurring. That's how we fought with the celestial demons. The celestial demons and externalists wanted San Francisco to quake, and we wanted to turn it around. Therefore everyone was reciting very vigorously, and no one was lazy.

You all know the Six-Syllable Great Bright Mantra. Some people recite "An Ma Ni Ba Mi Hung" while others recite "Om Mani Padme Hum." Long ago there was an elderly woman who recited "Om Mani Padme Cow." Whether it's "cow" or "Hum," it counts as long as you recite it with sincerity. If you are sincere then it will be efficacious; if you are not sincere then it will not be efficacious. What is sincerity? Concentration. Being concentrated is efficacious. Being scattered is useless.

I didn't take part in that session for reciting the Great Bright Mantra. Why not? Because I wanted to let the participants follow their own free will. If I had pressured them into reciting, they would have been embarrassed not to recite. Then it would not really be them reciting, nor would it be me reciting. The recitation would have been done under pressure. That's why I chose not to take part in the session. But I watched them from behind the scenes. I had a "radar" and I could see very clearly who was sleeping and who was not. I was very pleased to find that during the seven days, both during the day and at night, not a single person fell asleep while reciting the mantra. It makes me happiest to see people cultivating. What I dislike most is to see people cheating each other and not cultivating.